


Is That You I Hear?

by lowkey_yoonmin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Folklore, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT)-centric, Norway (Country), Norwegian Mythology & Folklore, Park Jisung (NCT)-centric, Protectiveness, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Tags Are Hard, Wendigo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 03:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17841965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowkey_yoonmin/pseuds/lowkey_yoonmin
Summary: Park Jisung would be nowhere if it weren't for his brothers Mark and Donghyuck. They keep him grounded in reality when nothing seems to be real, but what about if they slip into this make-believe realm with him? How will save them then?(im bad at summaries but this is based off of a story I was told as a kid about Wendigos pls spare me)





	Is That You I Hear?

**Author's Note:**

> Important fact to note: The Wendigo is incredibly proficient at imitating the voices of others, it's voice growing fainter the closer it gets to the listener. They are skeletal beings, vaguely resembling a humanoid figure with many similar features to the Red Elk. Kaya and Freyr are the names of Mark, Donghyuck, and Jisung's dogs, they're the names of my childhood dogs as well. The terrain that they're in is the old Norwegian country side, around Lund because that's where I originally heard this story from. This is an old story that my Granddad told me about to keep me from running off into the back forests, just with a bit more added drama because I'm a sucker for horror. No one dies so don't worry!

The first time any of the Lee brothers encountered the being was when they realized that there did exist things far worse than any nightmare.

Jisung, Mark and Donghyuck were not strangers to the large forests that sat behind their home. They had lived there all their short lives, ever since their older brother Taeyong had moved into the isolated cottage on the top of the large hill overlooking the nearly thirty acres of forest land back when they were less than three years old. 

Now, they were nine, twelve, and eleven respectively and had spent most free time out in the ancient old trees they were currently in. Yet something was a tad off about this trip, they were not in a familiar area. They couldn’t even see the looming cottage they called home from where they were currently stuck. 

However, their two alaskan huskies were not panicked. They seem to be calm and collected, knowing where exactly they were. So naturally, Mark managed to convince his two younger brothers that all was well if both dogs were not sensing any emanate danger. 

“Kaya and Freyr aren’t worried, I don’t doubt they haven’t run along this way before so they could easily find th-” 

Mark is abruptly cut off from his sentence by a familiar voice.

“Mark? Sungie? Hyuck, where are you?”

Jisung turned to look at his older brothers, relief clear in his features. “Taeyong hyung, that was him right?” Hyuck just nodded and turned in the faint voices’ vague direction, trying to pin the voice to an area to his left.

Before Mark could manage to take off in the direction of his elder brother’s voice, he was pulled back by his pant leg and Donghyuck pulling at his hood. Kaya was pulling at his pants, anchoring him in his spot while Freyr was grabbing at the youngest’s shirt and keeping him in position. 

Both animals were staring in the same direction just beyond the line of trees that were in front of the siblings, growling lowly. 

None of the siblings could understand why their dogs would be cautious towards Taeyong, he was the one who had originally found them as puppies. It was… odd.

Mark grabbed for both his younger brother’s hands to pull them back from the tree line, keeping his eyes on the ever moving shadows all the while. He was only twelve, but he could tell when things just weren’t right. 

The voice called out to them again, sounding every bit just like Taeyong as the man had sounded just a few hours earlier when he was saying goodbye to them before they left. Both dogs sank down onto their hunches, pulling both Mark and Jisung even further back. 

Jisung had always been an easily frightened child so it was no surprise that when he registered that both his hyungs were tense that something wasn’t right, easily flitting to hide behind Donghyuck and grab for his hand and Mark’s shirt sleeve. The elders both wrapped an arm around their youngest brother before gently tugging him in the direction that Freyr was now trudging. 

The voice called them again, seeming to grow frantic as it started to fade from all three of the brother’s ears. Mark finally turning and making sure he had a firm hold on his brothers before running to catch up with Kaya and Freyr as they trekked away from the voice and towards the south.

The sun was going down at an alarming speed and Mark would be damned if he had to find his way back without being able to see. He could still see the area around him and Kaya’s frame running through the snow just a few feet in front of him with Freyr training just a few feet behind them. 

“Hyung!”

Jisung was panting heavily while trying to catch up with all the length his small nine year old legs would allow, eventually Donghyuck just picking him up to settle him onto his back and let the youngest catch him breath, 

“What is it S-Sungie?”

The cold air was starting to burn their lungs but the adrenaline from the unheard of level of urgency felt like the warmest water rushing through their veins, 

“That wasn’t Taeyong hyung, was it?”

Mark didn’t answer, he only continued running till they broke through the line of trees and saw the comforting figure of their looming cottage, with Taeyong sitting on the front steps.

\------------

The second time that any of the Lee brothers experienced the being was when they realized that nothing is worse than fearing an entity you could not see.

Mark was alone this time, his brothers were home with soft blankets and a heavy fever, trying to recover from the cold they had received just days prior. 

He was out on a store run to the nearest town just a mere ten miles away to get more medicine and extra batteries for the old tv remote. He was now sixteen and could drive, hence why his Taeyong hyung finally trusted him enough to go on the trip alone, but not without the presence of Freyr. 

It had been only four years since that night in the forest, but Freyr remained every bit as on guard every time Mark or his brothers went outside, this time was no different. Freyr remained glued to Mark’s left leg, only calming when he could feel the boy’s hand run through his fur and ease the tense muscles under his palm. 

At this time of night, around seven in the evening, most people were finishing up quick runs to the town shops and getting off work, nothing was out of the ordinary. 

Mark had spent a bit too much time thinking on what candy he should buy as a little gift to his brothers, leading him to leave at around nine that evening. He wasn’t too worried, he had driven to the store and the car was only a short five minute walk from the store entrance. 

As he left the store front with a gentle smile and parting words to the kind older woman who happened to work that night shift, he felt a still in the air. The kind of chill that comes from a room that was just too quiet, a bit too empty. Yet he was outside in an open street with a multitude of street lamps lighting his path, nothing that could cause a case of paranoid like the kind he currently felt flowing through every nerve ending in his system.

Freyr was every bit as tense as usual, he kept his place next to Mark’s leg, only he pushed forward till the front of his snout was in front of Mark and stopped him from walking. 

Mark had long since learned to trust whatever his lifelong companions suggested and didn’t think a single thought before stuttering in his step and placing a shaking palm on the animal’s neck. 

If Freyr was feeling just as anxious about this night, then that surely means that the eerie chill running down Mark’s spine had to mean something. He was not the oblivious young kid he had once been.

Freyr walked forward, letting Mark’s hand slip from his frame as he pushed in the proper direction, the boy slowly following behind the dog with small steps and his keys placed between each of his fingers incase someone felt it necessary to attack him.

Freyr suddenly stopped, pulling his teeth back and letting out a violent snarl that caused Mark to flinch. He couldn’t tell what the animal was targeting since they were directly under the light of a street lamp, instead choosing to stay put and try to focus his eyes on the shadowy areas surrounding him and Freyr.

“Hyung? Why are you out this late?”

It was Jeno, a classmate of his. Mark instantly release the tension from his shoulders after hearing the familiar tone of his classmate and friend. He moved forward to try and placate Freyr from his still position just in front of him, calling out,

“Jeno, I was just getting a few things f-”

“Why are you around here so late? It’s dangerous…”

Mark froze. Freyr was stock still and staring without a single blink at the area Jeno’s voice radiated from. Or, where he thought it was from. 

This voice was close, but almost… warped? Jeno seemed to be talking through a yawn, or maybe with little air. He seemed pained.

Mark slowly brought his eyes up from Freyr’s pelt, grabbing at the loose collar on the dog’s neck and trying to pull him back to his side but to no avail. 

When Mark didn’t respond, the voice trailed off in the direction to his right, sounding like Jeno had just given up and left while speaking. 

It wasn’t words, per say. Maybe a breath of a whisper, a wave perhaps. Either way, Mark knew he did not want to stay in the area to find out. 

He pulled his phone out and turned on the flashlight, thanking his habit of always having his phone charged, and counted to three before briskly pulling away to walk in the opposite direction to his car. He shuffled the plastic bag in his arm and clicked his tongue to call Freyr’s attention back to him to follow. 

“MArk, kEEp ThE muT NEaR…”

Safe to say Mark did not waste one second before he sprinted to his car and shuffled Freyr inside and floored it to his home to his sick brothers, unaware of the dark shadow that followed just behind.


End file.
